“Disclaimers: This is my first shou mei tasting so I have no basis for comparison. I am only starting to expand my tastings into white teas. Steep amounts: 5.4 grams tea / 150ml water @ ~185 deg...” Read full tasting note
“This is still a great tea, maybe even better now than when I first had it. Since it is very close to being fully oxidized, I don’t think it will develop very quickly from now on. I will keep an eye...” Read full tasting note
Shou Mei (寿眉) is a style of White Tea that is grown in the Fuding area of Fujian province of China. The tea is the same varietal that is used to make Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needles) and Bai Mu Dan (White Peony), but Shou Mei is (less tippy) a 2 or 3 leaf to 1 bud ratio. The processing style also allows for more oxidation through natural air drying.
Our Shou Mei was aged as a loose leaf tea for 2 years in Fuding and then for 3 years in Kunming before being pressed into a cake. The result is a lightly aged, but very clean Shou Mei that brews up an incredibly rich orange hued tea soup. The taste is very sweet with notes of honey, and dried fruit. Incredibly viscous and smooth, with no real astringency at all (even at higher temperatures). This is a tea that can be enjoyed fully right now. Further aging would be beneficial but is not at all needed.
100 Grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo leaf tong)
May 2013 Harvest, June 10th 2018 pressing
We also have some Aged Fuding Shou Mei White Tea Dragon Balls from the same material!
Company description not available.